New Orleans, LA - The San Jose SaberCats won their third championship in six seasons, 55-33 over the Columbus Destroyers. San Jose QB Mark Grieb was named ArenaBowl MVP on the strength of a 24-of-29, 218 yard, four touchdown performance.

The SaberCats defense was able to pressure Columbus into a pair of costly turnovers, as both Clevan Thomas and Omarr Smith had interceptions for San Jose. The SaberCats did not have a turnover in the game. With the win, San Jose head coach Darren Arbet joined Tim Marcum as the only head coaches in AFL history to win at least three ArenaBowls.

San Jose got the first defensive stop of the game midway through the second quarter on Thomas' interception on ball thrown by the Destroyers' QB Matt Nagy that was tipped at the line of scrimmage by 'Cats defensive lineman George Williams. Williams then entered the game on offense and caught a 1-yard pass from Grieb to give the SaberCats a 27-14 lead that the team would carry on to the second half. After being outscored by Columbus 13-7 in the third quarter, San Jose's offense found a rhythm in the fourth quarter with 21 points to close out the game.

In the fourth quarter San Jose scored on rushing touchdowns by James Roe and Brian Johnson, giving the team three total rushing touchdowns for the night. Columbus, which led the league in rushing during the regular season, managed only one score on the ground on only 11 total yards, while San Jose had 13 total rushing yards. The announced attendance of 17,056 set an AFL record for highest attendance at a game played at a neutral site.